Israel and Lebanon 'close to ceasefire'

Israel and Lebanon appear to be close to a ceasefire agreement, as the Israeli Cabinet will meet on Tuesday to discuss it, Israeli and American officials said.

A 60-day truce is being proposed to end hostilities between Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese army, Hezbollah.

It is said to include the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and the elimination of Hezbollah's presence in the area.

It is often said that the darkest hour is before dawn. There was an intensity in the exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah, as the two sides argued over the final details of the agreement.

On Sunday he saw about 250 projectiles were fired at Israel from Lebanonwith multiple blockades, while the Israeli Air Force continued to carry out airstrikes on suspected Hezbollah sites and weapons stores in Beirut and elsewhere.

The agreement will include an increase in the presence of the Lebanese army in the area vacated by Israel and Hezbollah, according to a Western diplomat who did not want to be named.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to have accepted the agreement “in principle” and the Deputy Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, Elias Bou Saab, said, quoted by Reuters, that there are now “no serious obstacles” to an end to the fighting.

One major sticking point – which will monitor the agreement – has been resolved, said a five-country committee set up including France as a member and chaired by the US.

US White House National Security Spokesman John Kirby also said that a deal is “close” and negotiations are moving in the right direction.

Another holdup of the deal was Israel's insistence that it has the right to return to Lebanon and take any military action it deems necessary if it believes Hezbollah is returning to southern Lebanon south of the Litani River or preparing to attack Israel.

This freedom of movement was unpopular with both Hezbollah and the Lebanese government but Amos Hochstein, the American envoy, is believed to have made it clear, while traveling between the two countries, that there is a time limit to this ceasefire.

Concerns about how to strengthen the ceasefire, given the comparative weakness of both the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) and the Lebanese Army, seem to have subsided.

But then there is the domestic aspect of Israel. The Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, has taken to social media to express his disapproval of the ceasefire agreement, which he called “a big mistake”. He said now, with Hezbollah behind militarily, it is a “historic opportunity” to destroy it.

The clashes began on October 8 last year, as Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in support of Hamas in Gaza.

Israel's stated goal in its war with Hezbollah – which escalated in September – is to allow the return of some 60,000 civilians who were displaced from communities in northern Israel as a result of the group's attacks.

It was then that it launched a massive attack on the army, destroying its infrastructure and weapons, and killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah and other officials.

Lebanese authorities have said any ceasefire should be limited to the terms of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.

The decision includes the withdrawal of Hezbollah troops and weapons from the areas between the Blue Line – the unofficial border between Lebanon and Israel – and the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border.

Israel says that has never been fully respected, while Lebanon says Israel's violations include military airstrikes over Lebanese territory.

In Lebanon, more than 3,750 people have been killed and at least 15,600 injured since October 2023, according to the Lebanese authorities, and more than a million have been forced from their homes.

Several people were injured and buildings were damaged when Hezbollah attacked in northern and central Israel, some of them near Tel Aviv, Israeli police said.

The attack follows an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut on Saturday, in which the Lebanese Ministry of Health said 29 people were killed.

Clashes continued on Monday, when Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes killed at least 12 people in the south.

Israel has also carried out several airstrikes in areas south of Beirut, which it said were targeting buildings linked to Hezbollah.